Bill to help families afford trained caregivers in consideration

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Activist rallied at the Hawaii State Capitol on Tuesday hoping lawmakers will find a way to ease the burden of caregivers across the state.

A bill being pitched would provide money vouchers for families to pay for trained caregivers.

It recently passed its first hearing before the Commerce and Consumer Protection and Health and Human Services committees last week.

"The idea is that our kupuna are our most treasured people it's part of our culture to take care of them. This bill not only helps the kupuna but it helps their caregivers. It provides a $70 benefit for people who are working caregivers and a lot of those people a lot of times have to work a full-time schedule and then have to come home and take care 24 hours a day of someone at home," Pedro Haro, organizer of Caring Across Generations, said.

A recent poll indicates a third of Hawaii residents in the age group of 45-70 currently helps care for a family member 60 or older.